"I think as dual premiers you can sometimes have a bit of a target on your back and I think the teams in Super Netball will be viewing us that way but it's nice to fly under the radar a little bit, especially this early on."

She said the foundation Lightning players who were still at the club have "definitely improved."

"I think if you pull back the footage from the end of 2016, you'd see that."

A couple of key signings have been welcomed.

"To have Peace (Proscovia) and Annika (Lee-Jones) come into the fold and show them what Lightning is like is nice," McAuliffe said.

"It's cool to have a bit of history to share with others, because for the past two years it's been a majority of the same team. It's nice to have stories to tell them and to share the culture of our club."

Lightning players have been involved in speed testing this week, with Mark McKean, the Lightning Head of Strength and Conditioning and USC Head of Physical Performance in High Performance Sport.